Free At Last
by vmarslovahhh18
Summary: Veronica moves to Neptune the summer before her junior year to escape her abusive father after her mom dies. Lilly's still alive and makes enemies with V. How will V deal with her past and the present?
1. Chapter 1

**Summary**: Veronica Mars moves to Neptune the summer before her junior year to escape her abusive father after her mother is killed in a car accident. She moves in with her uncle Keith Mars and then cuts her hair, changes her look, and vows that she'll never let anyone control her like her father did. School starts and she makes enemies with Lilly Kane (everything with Aaron will happen her senior year) and friends with Wallace Fennel. As her life goes on how will she cope with the past and move on into the future?

**Spoilers**: Will contain some season one spoilers. It will have some of the cases and mysteries of season one. There will be no Lilly murder mystery, however.

**Disclaimer**: Veronica Mars belongs to Rob Thomas, obviously.

_So does anyone remember the song that's playing when Corny gets mugged by the pizza mugger in season 2? It's "On the 54" by The Dandelions. It totally rocks and you guys should check it out._

_Also, I just read in TV Guide that in Heroes Kristin Bell plays Elle who will not disappoint us VM fans. Apparently, her character will be full of quips and sarcastic remarks. YAY! While I've never watched Heroes I definitely will start watching. In case anyone wants to know Kristin Bell will be on Heroes starting October 22. I seriously can't wait!!!_

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She waited in silence. The fresh wounds on her back bleeding and evicting sharp pain. Looking at her, the only way you could tell she was in pain was the death grip she had on her bag. After a few more minutes of waiting, the car finally pulled up to the curb. She quickly got into the passenger side and sat straight, careful not to touch her back, and buckled her seatbelt.

"You ready?" Keith Mars said, looking at his niece.

She nodded and stared out the windshield. As the car pulled away from the curb she didn't take one glance back to the house she'd never have to call home again.

……………

Keith led his niece, Veronica, into the apartment. After he closed the door she stood just inside of it, looking lost and out of place. On the way in he had noticed the blood seeping onto her pale blue shirt that brought out her blue eyes. So Keith walked straight into the bathroom and came out with a wet washcloth and a first aid kit.

"I'm sorry," he said to the frightened girl, "I got there as fast as I could."

"Thanks." Veronica choked out in barely a whisper. She then looked at the floor and fidgeted with her hands.

"Can I take care of your back for you?" Keith soothingly and softly asked.

Veronica looked up and then looked back down again. Nodding slightly she took a half step closer.

"We can go into your room so you can just lie down on your bed." Keith told her and then ushered her into the bedroom straight down the hallway.

Veronica couldn't help but give a half smile at the mention of _her _room and _her _bed. She was starting to feel a little less out of place. When she got in the room, Veronica walked slowly around, ran her hand over the desk and dresser and finally got to the bed. Turning her head sharply to look at Keith one last time, she turned around and pulled off the bloodied shirt and then laid stomach-down on the bed fast. She turned her head towards the wall and bit her lip as the cool antiseptic reached the welts. Eventually he finished and said 'Good night' before flicking off her light and closing her door. One tear fell down her cheek before she drifted off to sleep.

_A broken plate… a C on a test… trying to watch South Park while he was gone… rolling her eyes at him… asking to go to a friend's house… sneaking onto the internet… _

_Him undoing his belt… turning around… shirt on the floor… screams of pain… sounds of leather whipping skin… blood dripping on the floor… mother silently crying in the next room… _

_Excuses, excuses, excuses… "I fell"… "I ran into a door"… "A dog attacked me"… "I was playing football"…_

_Pushing down on her shoulders… his hand between her legs… trying not to cry… sound of tearing foil… bruises on her thighs… his grunts of satisfaction… the vomit she threw up afterwards… the mess between her legs…_

_Police at the door… car accident… her mother's gone… dressed all in black… placing the flower on her grave… crying herself to sleep… loneliness taking over…_

_She's got to get out… he blames her… throwing things into a backpack… he intercepts her at the door… a few whips… she fights back… he falls… she runs… "hello… Uncle Keith?"_

_Her father's mocking face looming over her as he comes inside her… trying to run away but then he says he'll kill her mother… there's no escape… broken wrists… black eyes… bruised thighs… dread… worry… fear… out of control… pulse racing… maniacal laugh_

Veronica shoots up gasping for breath after the evil laugh of her father is played in her mind. The images of her previous nightmare still imbedded into her head. After she calms down, the realization hits her. She's free. He can't hurt her anymore. _She's free._ And there's one thing she knows. She will never _ever_ let anyone hurt her or control her like he did again. Veronica falls back asleep with a confident smile on her face.

……………

The first thing Veronica does is go shopping. She's sick of the pastels and pinks and girlish clothes he made her wear. Searching through the racks of clothes, she picks out reds and blacks and greens and navys. She finds jeans and mini-skirts and stuff she's never been allowed to wear before. Jackets that hug her small figure and slip-on chucks and her favorite, her combat boots. Taking the numerous shopping bags with her she plops down at a table in the food court after getting a giant slice of pepperoni pizza. She devours the slice like it's the only food she's had in years. After drinking the skist till it was only ice she moved on.

While on her way out she passed a group of four girls. One: skinny, blonde, and naïve. The next: brunette, developed, and experienced. Third: Blonde, tall, and aiming to please. And the one leading the pack: Blonde (again) with a spicy personality and all-powerful attitude. The other three listened to her intently as they discussed their shopping plans. The leader saw her and looked her up and down with slight interest before dropping her gaze and strutting to the Victoria's Secret a few stores down.

Rolling her eyes Veronica kept heading towards the door until she saw the hair salon to the right. She looked down at her own long blonde locks and smiled as she thought of what she would do.

……………

Veronica walked through the door to the apartment with a new confidence and attitude. It's amazing what a new wardrobe and hair style can do to a person.

Keith looked up from his baseball game and gaped at Veronica's new appearance, "Your… hair…"

"He always made me keep it long." She said. They didn't need any clarification to know who she was talking about. Her father. Keith's half-brother.

"But, thanks Uncle Keith. This really helped." And she flashed him a genuine smile and trotted off to her room to organize all of her new stuff.

……………

For Veronica, the rest of the summer flew by. She went to the office whenever Keith did and learned the trade of the P.I. business. He got her a camera and laptop, which she used constantly. Sometimes he'd entertain her with stories from previous jobs, others he'd tell her all about Neptune. She learned about the social hierarchy with the '09ers on top and everyone else on bottom. The PCHers were also now of knowledge to Veronica. She'd even seen pictures of many of them, including their fearless leader Eli 'Weevil' Navarro. By the end of the summer, Veronica had even started taking on a few cases for her uncle. Nothing more than the late night surveillance at the Camelot Motel.

But throughout the summer, Veronica acquired a favorite pastime. On a lot of mornings, she would get up, put the leash on Backup's collar, and take a walk along the beach. She found the beach to be a place where she could just think about things. It was relaxing for her, and she eventually dubbed it her favorite place in Neptune.

Keith came to be someone Veronica trusted, and she often wished he was her father instead of Pete Mars. Keith and Pete shared a father, so Veronica assumed that Keith's mother was some sort of angel while Pete's was more of devil's spawn. But no matter what the biology may be, Veronica had grown attached to the balding man and was now completely comfortable with him. She now realized that not everyone in the world was bad, and that there were some good people in the world. And since she started her junior year of high school tomorrow, she decided to set out to find those people.

……………

When Veronica walked out of the parking lot and towards the school, she found that finding some good people was going to be quite hard. For up on the flagpole a boy was taped with everyone else either walking past or crowding around laughing and taking pictures. Veronica looked at the scene in disgust and made her way through the crowd till she got to the front of the group.

"Who died and made you que-" some guy who was taking his picture with the guy taped up asked but stopped when she flicked open my pocket knife.

"Move." Veronica stated.

"Freak." He muttered before walking away.

"You new here?" She asked the boy while in the process of cutting through the duct tape on his wrists.

"Yeah."

"Me too. Lovely school Neptune High is, huh?"

He snorted. Then Veronica heard noise behind her as people started to move away after the excitement stopped. "Go Pirates!" Veronica said sarcastically. Good thing she remembered the school mascot, or she would have ended up saying 'Rhinos' instead. Eventually everyone cleared and she got his clothes and together the two new students walked into the school.

"Thanks for that. I really appreciate it. Umm… my name's Wallace Fennel, by the way."

The mention of his name finally got Veronica's attention and she turned her head to mutter a "Veronica Mars" before continuing to walk towards the main office.

They both got their schedules and lockers and headed their separate ways. After checking out her locker Veronica went to her first class, newspaper.

……………

When Veronica walked into the room she immediately recognized the blonde that led the small group of shoppers that she passed in the mall towards the beginning of summer. She was sitting on some other guy's lap, who had brown hair with blonde tips. Another guy, with brown hair and piercing blue eyes sat next to them with his head between his hands telling them to stop. Veronica rolled her eyes and walked towards the teacher to hand her her schedule.

After looking over the schedule the teacher stood up. At the scraping of her chair everyone looked to her except the 'leader' and the boy on who's lap she sat.

"Miss Kane, Mr. Echolls, could you please stop fooling around. Lilly, get your own seat."

The blonde huffed and then sat on the other boy who immediately grimaced and pushed her off. "Come on Donut," she said, "she said to find another seat." 'Donut' sighed and then got up, giving his seat to Lilly, and then found another empty seat on the other side of the room.

"Okay class," the teacher began, "we have a new student here, her name is Veronica Mars. Please welcome her to your school."

But instead of the usual clapping, some kid with shaggy blonde hair said, "Are you like, related to Keith Mars?"

"He's my uncle." Veronica said.

"Oh," he said, "so… why'd you decide to move to Neptune."

"You know, I heard how fantastic this school was, and I _just _had to be apart of it. I mean, who wouldn't want to go to Neptune High?" Veronica sarcastically said with a tilt of her head. The boy looked dumbfounded and she couldn't take it anymore. She snorted and then elaborated, "No, I really don't care for this school. And I didn't _decide _to move to Neptune. I'm sorta stuck here."

"Why?" The stupid boy continued on.

Seriously, Veronica thought she might have to go all Jackie Chan on him if he didn't shut up. She huffed out a breath and then continued with her life story. "Well, in case you didn't know," she began, talking like she was talking to a five-year-old, "when someone's parents die they get stuck with some other relative. So I really am stuck here. Well, until I graduate. Then I'm out of here." She smirked as everyone shut up when she mentioned her parents were dead. So, it was a lie. But it was half right.

The teacher cleared her throat and Veronica was sure she felt quite awkward. "Well, um, Veronica you can have a seat over there next to Duncan Kane."

Veronica looked to where the boy previously called 'Donut' gave a small wave. She walked over and plopped down next to him.

"And here I thought your name was Donut." She teased.

"Oh, that's just what my sister Lilly calls me." Veronica now made a mental note: _Lilly Kaneblonde leader; Duncan KaneDonutLilly's brother. _

"I see."

Duncan was about to say something else when Lilly and the blonde-tipped boy walked over.

"Veronica Mars," said Lilly, "weren't you at the mall earlier in the summer?"

"Yep."

"Didn't you have, like, really long hair."

"Wow, your observational skills sure go a long way. And yes, I did, and before you ask, yes, I did cut it."

The blonde-tipped boy, previously called Mr. Echolls, snorted at Veronica's comment and Lilly swatted at his arm. "Logan." Hmm… so blonde-tipped boy has a name too. New mental note: _Logan Echollsblonde-tipped boyLilly's boyfriend?_

After putting Logan and Echolls together something clicked in Veronica's mind. "Logan Echolls… sounds familiar. Is there somewhere I'd know you from?"

"Well, E! is always a fine choice, or there's people, any of the tabloids you may read, and yes, before you ask, my father is Aaron Echolls."

Mental note number three: _Aaron Echollsstar of The Breaking PointLogan Echolls father._ Veronica didn't fail to notice the dark look that passed over his eyes in mentioning his father and she couldn't help but note how it looked quite like the one that passed over her eyes in mentioning her own father. _Interesting._

"That sucks."

"Excuse me?" He questioned.

"I mean, your whole life is probably out there for everyone to see. Fighting the paparazzi whenever you go somewhere. I'm sure you have to 'impress' people whenever you're around your father. And no offense, but his movies aren't even that good." Veronica didn't really have a nice side anymore. She said whatever came to her mind. And she distinctly remembered 'The Breaking Point' being one huge crapfest.

When she looked at Logan's face Veronica saw a smirk break out. _Must have hit pretty close to home_ she thought. "Why Miss Mars, you sure have quite the opinion. But you got one thing wrong, his movies suck horribly, they're not just 'not even that good'." He said with air quotes around what Veronica had said earlier.

She smiled at his humor but it faltered when she saw Lilly glaring at her. Luckily, Ms. Dent (Veronica had gotten a look at the nameplate on her desk) intervened before Lilly could say something nasty.

"Mr. Echolls, please go back to your seat and do something. And Miss Kane, how about you tell Miss Mars about what goes on in this class."

Lilly looked especially mad about this. "Why can't he do it?" She asked while pointing to her little brother.

"Because as our editor he has some important work to do. And since you never seem to be too busy to chat, I don't think you'll find it too inconvenient to help out Miss Mars."

"Whatever." Lilly scoffed. Then she turned to Veronica and asked with very false sweetness, "Sooo, what sort of stuff do you write?"

"Well, I don't really write so much. I was wondering if I could maybe just take pictures."

"I don't know. But I'll show you the cameras." Lilly then turned on her heel, flipped her long blonde hair, and strutted over to the cabinet containing the cameras. _Does she make everything a performance?_ Veronica wondered as she watched Lilly walk. She then rolled her eyes and followed.

"So, this is the camera or whatever." Lilly held out a 35mm camera.

Veronica snorted. "Yeah… I think I'd rather use mine." And she then pulled out her camera from her messenger bag.

"Umm… okay. Have fun with that." Lilly then walked back over to Logan and perched herself on his lap.

Veronica walked over to Ms. Dent. "So, do you mind if I just take pictures with my camera? I'd rather do that then write."

"Well, we can start you off there."

"Great."

"I have your first assignment, are you free after school tomorrow?"

"I guess."

"We're doing a feature on Bodie Chang, you know him?

"Seeing as this is my first day, no."

"Well he's a surfer, and he's winning all these competitions. He's got another one up at Gold Coast. Duncan's writing the story. So you can go and talk to him about it. Maybe you two can carpool or something."

"Yeah sure." Veronica says before walking back over to where she was seated earlier. "So I'm taking the pictures of Bodie Chang tomorrow."

"Oh cool."

"Yeah, it's my first assignment." Veronica glanced up at the clock and saw that it was almost time for 2nd hour to begin. "Well I'll see you up at Gold Coast tomorrow." Then the bell rang and she strolled out of the classroom and on to Honors English. Veronica had been taking honors classes ever since they had been offered. Her father made her. With her new attitude and outlook on life she would've taken regular classes but knew they'd be way too easy and her teachers would end up moving her up anyways.

After Honors English she had AP Calculus and AP Government. Then it was time for lunch.

……………

Veronica plays with the gross cafeteria food as she stares at the lunch table in front of her. She has clearly found the 09er table. There sits Logan with Lilly on his lap, Duncan with an arm slung around the naïve girl from the shopping foursome, the shaggy blonde, and some other people. They were all eating pizza, which Veronica had found only the rich and elite could get with their 'pirate points', according to some nerd in her calc class. She was so engrossed in watching them that she didn't notice Wallace sit down.

"You okay?" He asked her.

"What?"

"You look, I don't know, hypnotized."

"Oh." Veronica continues to play with her food while Wallace unpacks his sack lunch. Wallace is about to open his mouth again when a head shaven, tattooed biker comes straight towards Wallace. It's Weevil, grand leader of the PCH bike club.

"My bitch. Weren't you supposed to wait for me at the flag pole? I'm not sure I could have made that any clearer." Weevil says before sitting down very close to Wallace, deliberately getting in his face. The other bikes crowd around Weevil. Wallace lets out an uncomfortable laugh.

"Okay, I get it, a'right. Very funny."

"Yeah."

"I guess we're even now. Right?"

Weevil then responds aggressively, "You get what boy? You get that you're a dead man walking, is that what you get?"

"Leave him alone." Veronica states without an ounce of fear in her words.

Weevil turns his attention towards the small blonde as the rest of the quad goes silent, grins, and moves towards her. "Sister, the only time I care what a woman has to say is, is when she's riding my big old hog but even then it's not so much words just a bunch of oohs and aahs, you know?"

"So it's big, huh?"

"Legendary."

Veronica smirks as she rises to the unspoken challenge. "Well let's see it. I mean if it's as big as you say, I'll be your girlfriend," Then she turns breathless as she adds, "We could go to prom together!"

Weevil is amused by Veronica's refusal to be intimidated by him and he laughs and looks around at his fellow bikers.

"What? What seems to be the problem? I'm on a schedule here, vato." She says with a tilt of her head.

Weevil's buddy Felix is clearly offended and nudges Weevil's shoulder, "Dude, Weevil. Don't let blondie talk to you like that!"

Veronica almost bursts out laughing as she says, "Sounds like your buddy here wants to see it too." However her outside appearance is still calm and collected, unwilling to give anything away.

"Ah, hell, I'll show you mine." Felix says as he moves closer to Veronica and reaches to undo his pants. Weevil puts out an arm to stop him but Vice Principal Clemmons gets there first.

"Felix Toombs," the VP begins, "What on God's green earth is going on here? All right gentlemen, move it along. Veronica, please try and associate yourself with other students?" But Veronica just smiles blandly as Clemmons moves the bikers on and away from the table. Felix shoots Wallace a filthy look and then Veronica and Wallace are yet again alone.

"So what did you do?" Veronica asks her new found friend.

"What?" Wallace asks confused.

"Why are you a dead man walking?"

Wallace elaborates on how two of the PCHers came in and started stealing stuff, then gave him a dollar for a pack of gum. After hitting the silent alarm the police arrive but after Wallace sees the whole gang there he tells the sheriff it was just an accident. But Lamb goes in and gets the surveillance tape.

"Congratulations, sport. In your short time here, you've already managed to piss off the motorcycle gang and the local sheriff." Veronica tells Wallace, who just shakes his head.

……………

Once school is over Veronica goes to Mars Investigations and starts doing her usual routine of answering phones, taking messages, organizing files, and internet surfing. Keith is in with a client so she takes down the message about a wife who thinks her husband is cheating on her. She's just hung up the phone when Cliff McCormack, the seedy, 'attorney for those who cannot afford an attorney' lawyer, walks in carrying his briefcase and a file.

"Veronica Mars." He greets her.

"My uncle's with a client."

"Apparently. That's okay, I'm happy out here chatting with you." Cliff then walks over and sits down in the chair on the other side of Veronica's desk.

"Like I said, Mr. Mars is with a client."

"I heard you but he's always out tracking down bail jumpers half the time lately and yet somehow all the cases that come in here still get handled. How is that?" Cliff asks innocently although he already suspects that Veronica's the one that helps out with the other cases, which is why he doesn't bother talking to Keith.

"We're efficient." Veronica tells him with her poker face on.

"Very efficient. Um look, I'm just going to leave this file here, open on your desk and if you decide to take a look at it, cool. One of my clients, Loretta Cancun, dances at the Seventh Veil…"

"Classy." Veronica says in response to the mention of Neptune's own strip club.

"These are my people, V. She was busted for vandalism, taking a baseball bat to the washing machine that stole her quarters at Suds'n'Duds."

"And Johnny Cochran was booked."

Cliff smirks before continuing. "I make no apologies. I like this case, it's tawdry. Miss Cancun says the Seventh Veil has an interesting way of keeping their liquor license…" Cliff then gets to his feet and starts walking towards the door, "despite their rather lax ID policy. She wants to make a deal. If your _dad_ has time, he should look into it." And with that Cliff walked out the door in all his cheap suit splendor.

……………

After eating supper Keith got a call that his newest bail jumper was on the move. Veronica booked him a flight, hotel, and rental car in El Paso. Once he left she grabbed some coffee, her homework, her messenger bag (after double checking for the taser Keith gave her and her camera), and Backup. An hour later she found herself parked by the Camelot Motel, waiting to snap the money shot. However when she heard the motorcycles coming she felt her plans may be a bit delayed. She watched the bikes approach and then circle around and finally come to a stop to the side of her car. Weevil takes off his helmet and gestures for her to roll down her window.

"Car trouble, miss?" He asks.

"Yeah, as a matter of fact. I think it might be a loose belt but if you wouldn't mind checking under the hood."

One of the bikers approaches the car and says to his leader, "Hey Weevil, who gets the first danc-" But he's interrupted when Backup jumps out of the window from the backseat and fastens his teeth onto the bikers arm and brings him down to the ground. "Get him off me! Get him off me, get him off me!" He shouts.

Felix then comes to the car and threatens, "Girl, you best call off your dog."

But Veronica tasers him in the chest and he goes down. Weevil isn't too impressed with the two bikers.

"Backup! Chill!" Veronica calls and the pit bull lets go of the biker. She then addresses Weevil. "I'll tell you what. We'll call it a draw."

"Baby, come on, it's too late for that."

"Here's the deal. Leave that kid at school alone for a week and I'll make sure your boys walk."

"Why you care so much for that skinny negro anyway."

But before Veronica can respond Felix starts to claw his way back up to her window so she charges the taser in front of his face.

"All right, all right, all right. Felix, we get it, you're a badass, okay. But for once don't be stupid." Felix then backs away from the car, quite gratefully.

"Not bad advice." Veronica says.

"All right, one week," Weevil agrees, "After that, we come for you, your boy, and your little dog too."

Backup starts to growl so Veronica talks to him, "Backup, be cool." Right now, Veronica is _very_ grateful for Keith teaching her to command the pit bull.

"You get lonely out here remember, Weevil love you long time." And then he blows her some kisses to which Veronica gives him the thumbs up. Then the bikers depart, leaving Veronica alone once again. Eventually she gets the money shot and goes home to grab a few hours of sleep before school the next day.

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_I hope everyone liked this. I'm going to add some Lilly vs. Veronica in the next chapter. Also, I think Logan and Dick may start 'terrorizing' Veronica, although they don't necessarily want to. I might also explore Dick's character a bit. He's one of my faves!_

_Reviews please! They make me want to write more!_


	2. Chapter 2

**So some stuff is going to be out of order but it will make sense I promise!!!**

**I know everyone wants to know if this will be LoVe. If it is, it will take awhile. **

_Thanks to everyone for all of their awesome reviews!!!_

XoSethCohenxO- this is Lilly's senior year and veronica's junior year, so the Aaron/Lilly stuff will happen during this school year, although I think it will happen later than October 3. But I just wanted to give a reason as to why Lilly was still alive.

LoveForever14- thanks for the info about the grammatical error. I'm glad you caught that. )

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Veronica pulled on her combat boots and then turned to look in the mirror. She looked nothing like she used to. The old Veronica would have never worn that short of a skirt, or that tight of a top. She would have never had short hair. And most of all, she never would have been so confident. Veronica used to be vulnerable. She couldn't do anything to stop what was happening to her. When she was 13 she tried to run away. She had her backpack full of food and clothes and the air in her bike tires full and was walking out the door when she heard his voice.

"_If you leave I'll kill her. I swear I will." _

_Veronica then heard a whimper and turned to see her father holding a gun to her mother's forehead. Her gasp was cut out by her mother's voice._

"_Honey, just go. Get out, please." Her mother begged._

"_Shut up!" He screamed and backhanded her. _

_Veronica gasped again and then spoke to her father in a trembling voice, "Stop. Please. I won't go. I-I'll stay. Just don't hurt her!"_

_The corners of his mouth turned up in an evil smile. "Go upstairs. I'll be up in a minute." _

_Veronica obliged, unaware that that night would be the first night her father raped her._

"Veronica?" Came Keith's voice after a few knocks on her bedroom door.

Veronica sighed in relief as she heard his voice and remembered who she was now. "Yeah?"

"I'm going to head to the office now. See you later."

"Bye Uncle Keith." Keith Mars was the only person who knew about the abuse. Although he didn't know about the extent of it. He had tried to help her and her mom numerous times, but Pete wouldn't allow Keith to be with either of them alone. Pete forbade Veronica from calling Keith, as well as his wife. He didn't know that she called Keith from payphones every so often. Lianne Mars was able to tell her brother-in-law everything and nothing. He was always there for her and sometimes he'd just talk to her, and she didn't have to say a word. If Lianne could see what was going on now, she'd be overjoyed to see her daughter being taken care of by Keith. The only thing Lianne ever wanted was to get Veronica away from Pete. Her death was what made it happen.

……………

Veronica played with the diamond heart necklace that she always wore - it was a gift from her mother - as she walked up the steps to Neptune High. She was preparing herself for a boring day of high school, but as soon as she saw Lilly Kane leaning against her locker she knew it definitely wouldn't be boring.

"Veronica Mars, what a cute little outfit you've got on today. Where'd you get it? Goodwill?" Lilly asked venomously.

"Salvation Army actually." Veronica said with a smirk. By now there was a small crowd of students surrounding the two, waiting to see what Lilly would strike with next.

"No wonder that skirt looks so familiar, I'm pretty sure I donated that thing like two years ago."

"And look how well it fits me now."

Now Lilly was getting angry, Veronica kept coming back with her own vicious comments. That's not what Lilly had planned on. She knew that she needed something extremely harsh to shut this girl up. "You know Veronica, I feel sorry for you, I truly do. I mean, your parents are dead, you have no siblings, and you only have your poor old uncle. No one loves you."

"Maybe. But do _your_ parents even love you? Or in your opinion is credit cards and sports cars love?" This remark left Lilly thinking and Veronica took this as her opportunity to walk away.

By the time Lilly snapped out of it Veronica was halfway down the hall. She was fuming now. _Veronica Mars must pay._

……………

"Come on Lilly, why are we doing this?" Logan asked the blonde who was forcing him and Dick to skip 7th hour in order to 'teach that little bitch a lesson'. (Or so Lilly had said)

"Stop being such a pussy. It's quite simple, all you have to do is let the air out of her tires."

"Why do you need us?" Dick asked, clearly annoyed.

"Because I don't want to get my hands dirty." Lilly said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Dick and Logan sighed before each letting the air out of a tire.

"Good job. Now, let's go hide over there so we can see her reaction."

_The only bitch is you._ Dick wanted to say to Lilly but he'd probably get a fist in his face if he said it, although he thinks that Logan might be agreeing with him on that one.

The three teens waited in silence until finally the bell rang and out walked the tiny blonde victim. Once she reached her car she stopped, frozen. She scrunched up her brow and her lips set into a straight line. A "fuck" was muttered and then she walked around the car to find that not only one but two tires had been flattened.

Veronica then hopped up onto the back of her car and pulled out her cell phone.

"Hey Keith" … "Um, everything's fine, I just, uh, got a flat." … "Yeah, that'd be great." "Well I'm supposed to be taking pictures at this surfing competition for the school newspaper." … "Duncan's writing it; maybe he can give me a ride." … "All right, I will." … "Bye."

A few minutes passed and then Veronica spotted Duncan and Meg walking hand in hand through the parking lot. She quickly jumped up and headed towards the pair. "Hey Duncan, I sort of got a flat and I was wondering if I could get a ride to the surf competition." She rambled quickly.

"Yeah, sure. But, how'd you get a flat in the parking lot?"

"Well, I actually got two. And I'm thinking that it was 'on purpose' if you get what I'm saying."

"Who would do th—oh." Duncan stopped mid-sentence as he realized that his sister would indeed do just that.

"Yeahh… we didn't exactly get off to a good start."

"Well do you have your camera? We should probably get going."

"Yep, got it right here." Veronica pulled out her camera from her bag to show him before putting it back in again.

"Well we have to take Meg home first so you're gonna have to sit in the back."

"No problem." The three got into the car and started off down the road in silence. After a few minutes Veronica broke it with a question, "Meg, you should come with us to the surf competition. It would be fun."

"Oh, I-I'd love to. But my dad wouldn't allow it-it's a school night and all. I have to be home by eight on school nights." Meg answered nervously with one quick glance back at Veronica, who pondered how Meg's response sounded a lot like one she had used so often before. However Veronica shook off the thought and decided that she was paranoid. _First Logan, now Meg? Just because your dad was horrible doesn't mean everyone else's is. _

……………

Duncan eventually dropped Meg off and drove to Gold Coast, where he got the story and Veronica got some good pictures. When Veronica got back to her apartment she found that her LeBaron had been returned and all tires were full of air. Upon opening the door she found Keith watching TV on the couch with Backup curled up on the floor. She smiled at the familiar sight.

"Thanks for getting my car uncle Keith." Veronica said as she walked over and plopped down into the oversized chair and petted Backup.

"Actually, it was here when I got home."

"Seriously? Do you know who brought it?"

"Nope. No clue."

"Hmm. Well I'm going to my room to do some homework. See you in the morning."

"Yep. Good night Veronica."

"Good night."

Veronica walked back into her room and lied down on her bed facing the ceiling. She pondered who could have possibly gotten her car for her but came up with no answers. Eventually she fell asleep wondering who could have possibly done that for her.

……………

The next day Veronica sat down at her usual table and found Wallace sitting there already. "So, you busy?"

"Just eating lunch, why?"

"How would you like to get the PCH Biker Club off your ass?" She answered with a smirk. Wallace nodded and she laughed a genuine laugh.

……………

"This is so twisted. I love it." Corny said while flipping through the notebook Veronica gave him.

"Well can you do it 'cause we need it fast." Veronica pleaded with the stoner she had met yesterday.

"Oh hell yeah, for you, the one takin' on Lilly Kane, oh anything. I'll even throw in the glazing gratis."

"Go to town. Thanks Corny." Veronica smiled and she and Wallace left the stoner to work. _I guess not everyone loves the ice queen._

……………

Later that night Veronica found herself parked across the street from the Seventh Veil. She was now initiating Phase One of her plan to save Wallace: Video tape the _interesting _way the Seventh Veil keeps their liquor license. She smiled as she saw what she was looking for and turned around in her seat to get it on tape.

……………

Veronica runs up a short flight of steps dragging Wallace with her. "Lets go." She says urgently.

"Hey, FloJo, slow your ass down."

Veronica pauses at the top of the stairs and halts Wallace. They observe Lilly, who is currently opening her locker for Clemmons and Sacks. She opens the locker and steps back, "There you go."

Clemmons then reaches inside the locker and pulls out a bong in the form of a cherub. "Well what's this Lilly? This would appear to be a device they use to smoke marijuana."

"That's exactly what it looks like," Agrees Sacks.

"Back to the office. Come on," Clemmons orders Lilly, who looks around flabbergasted. Then she spots Veronica.

But before she can say anything some guy shouts, "Oh man, Lilly's busted."

Lilly rolls her eyes and then points a perfectly manicured finger at Veronica, "It was you?"

Veronica looks at Lilly in a 'who-me?' way. Lilly laughs, but then her smile fades and a look of cold hatred comes over. "Listen, I know it was you. This isn't over, okay."

Veronica exaggerates a fake yawn and then Clemmons tries to haul her away.

"I'll get you for this!" Lilly tells Veronica.

"Let's go," Clemmons urges.

"I will." She promises before she turns and walks away towards the Vice Principal's office with Clemmons trailing behind her.

Corny has witnessed this whole thing take place and comes up to Veronica. "Eeee, solid." He congratulates her and then moves on his way.

"You're right, that was funny." Wallace admits as he and Veronica start walking down the hall.

"Meet me at my car after school. Let's see if you've done your part." Veronica tells him and then sprints off towards her next class.

……………

"Got a present for you." Veronica tells Wallace as she hands him the envelope containing the Sac-N-Pac video. She had had a busy day, but seeing the look of relief wash over his face was worth wasting her day blowing up a bong in the evidence room and receiving the switched video from her trusty fireman Phil. Also, seeing the very incompetent Sheriff Lamb trying to figure out how that video could have possibly gotten switched, was quite worth it as well.

"I owe you big time." He tells her.

"I had my own reasons for doing it, trust me." Veronica says as she thinks about the flat tires, the way she bosses around all her friends, and the easy, perfect life Lilly Kane must live.

"Oh no you don't. You really think I'm gonna let you get away with that? That might play with the masses. But underneath that angry young women shell, there's a slightly less angry young woman who's just dying to bake me something. You're a marshmallow, Veronica Mars, a twinkie." Wallace tells her, and she laughs in response.

Later the pair are flying Wallace's model airplane. "Okay, how do I make it loop the loop?" Veronica asks Wallace, but he's distracted by something in the distance.

"Uh, Veronica?"

"Yeah."

"Your car." Veronica turns her head and sees what he's looking at. After handing the control over to Wallace she starts the trudge up to where her car is. Lilly is perched on the hood, and Logan, Dick, Beaver, Madison, and Shelley are all surrounding her. Veronica stops in front of her car and Wallace races up behind her.

"Hey, Veronica Mars," Lilly says before getting up off of the hood and stalking over to where Veronica stands. "Do you know what your little joke cost me?"

"Well I'm pretty sure you won't be getting your bong back."

Lilly slaps Veronica in the face, but she shows no emotion or pain, only narrows her eyes just a bit. "Wrong answer. Would you care to guess again?"

"Clearly your sense of humor," Veronica says coldly.

Lilly then slaps Veronica on the other side of her face. Logan visibly flinches, and is puzzled as to Veronica's behavior towards it all. "Nope. And here I'd thought you'd be good at pop quizzes. No, the correct answer is my credit cards. That's right. My daddy took them away. And now you get to pay."

"Oh, is that right?" Veronica questioned. Neither Veronica nor Lilly heard the roar of motorcycles pulling up or noticed when the PCHers came around on Veronica's side to watch the show.

"Yep." Lilly said before punching Veronica in the face. Veronica barely moved from the impact, but brought her hand up to wipe the blood running from her nose. She then swiped her hand on Lilly's white shirt. "You bitch!" She said before kneeing Veronica in the stomach, who went down this time. As Veronica was standing up Lilly taunted her, "What's the matter Veronica? Can't fight back? Too bad your dad isn't alive to protect you."

This comment got Veronica's attention as she whipped her head to face Lilly and stood up abruptly. She grabbed Lilly by the shirt and pinned her down on the hood of her car. "If my dad were here he'd be the one hitting me." She whispered vehemently without thinking.

Lilly was confused and stared at her blankly so she took the advantage and punched her hard. After recovering Lilly pushed Veronica with all her might and then tripped her so she fell on the ground. Quickly Lilly jumped on top of her and punched her a few times before Veronica rolled them over so she was on top. A few catcalls could be heard from the PCHers except Weevil, and neither Wallace, Logan, nor Dick made a sound. Veronica started punching Lilly with no mercy but only got in three before she realized what she was doing, and who she was portraying. Wide-eyed she stood up and backed away, stumbling slightly. When she saw Lilly get up without a look of helplessness that had plagued her own eyes, she exhaled a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding in. Lilly moved her hand up to her lip and then stared back at Veronica in pure hatred, "Come on Mars, did you wimp out?"

"No, I just didn't want to ruin your precious face."

"Whatever." Lilly scoffed. She then snapped her fingers and said, "Let's go." Madison and Shelley immediately ran over to Lilly, with Beaver not too far behind. Logan came next and took one look at Veronica before putting his arm around Lilly's shoulders. Dick was slowly moving towards the group, obviously stalling. "Dick!" Lilly called angrily from the passenger door of Logan's Xterra. He stole one long glance at Veronica, and she saw the guilt and sorrow in his eyes before he snapped his head back towards the car and ran over towards it, bumping fists with Logan and then getting in the back. The Xterra left, followed by Madison's Audi, but Veronica looked after them, confused by Dick's behavior.

"You okay?" Wallace said as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Just peachy." She replied in a hollow voice.

Veronica turned around to look at the forgotten PCHers when Weevil spoke. "So that, uh, surveillance tape just… poof?"

"That's fortunate." She responded.

……………

Luckily when Veronica got home Keith was still at work. After washing her face to get rid of the blood that caked it, she inspected her bruises. She'd definitely had worse before. And she'd perfected the art of covering up said bruises. So tomorrow she could pretend that nothing had happened and everything would be okay. This was a role she had played many times in her life. She'd go to school, sit carefully to avoid touching her back to her chair, and make sure not to get any water on her face so that the concealer wouldn't wash off and show the ugly yellows and blues. Veronica sighed as the memories bombarded her mind.

Veronica grabbed Backup's leash and clipped it on to his collar and then walked down to Dog Beach to relax and clear her mind. She had been coming there a lot lately; it provided her with peace. Today she sat down in the sand and threw the tennis ball she'd brought half-heartedly as other thoughts plagued her mind.

"I don't think that's much of a challenge for him." A deep voice interrupted her thoughts.

Veronica turned to find none other than the shaggy blonde, Dick Casablancas, standing there. He was dressed in a wet suit and had his surfboard stuck in the sand beside him. She wondered how her investigative skills had missed his approach. A few silent moments passed until Backup came bounding back and dropped the tennis ball between them. Dick bent down and grabbed it. He then threw it with all his might, almost twice as long as Veronica's farthest throw.

"Mind if I join you?" Dick asked the silent blonde, but sat down before she could answer.

For awhile the two sat and stared at the ocean, with Backup running back a few times to which Dick would again throw the tennis ball. "Why are you here?" Veronica asked suddenly, turning to look at Dick.

But Dick honestly didn't know. He wasn't sure what it was about Veronica. Plenty of girls had been verbally and physically abused by Lilly Kane, but he hadn't felt sorry for any of them until now. There was just something about Veronica Mars, but he didn't know what. Instead of saying everything that was going through his head, and everything that would answer all of the questions Veronica had tied into one, he just said "It's a free country." Dick himself knew that was a very un-Dick-like answer, but the small blonde next to him somehow made him feel different.

"I guess it is." Veronica answered, not prying any further.

"So how's your face?" Dick questioned, sitting forward and resting his tanned and toned arms on his knees and looking curiously at Veronica's face.

She shrugged and replied simply, "I've had worse."

Dick didn't know what to make of this statement but let it pass as Backup came bounding over again, looking for his new friend to throw the tennis ball. The two teens stayed like this for about thirty more minutes. Not saying a word, just staring out into the crashing waves, enjoying the other's company. Then Veronica looked at her watch and realized she should be getting home. After calling for Backup and attaching his leash again she looked to Dick who was still staring out at the glistening water. "Thanks." She said softly.

"Don't mention it." He replied after turning to look at her briefly. Veronica wasn't sure if she ever would.

……………

When Veronica arrived back at the apartment she inwardly cursed herself for forgetting to apply makeup to her face. Keith was sitting in the large armchair reading over some files and looked up when she walked in. His mouth dropped and he rushed over to Veronica, who had shamefully looked at the floor.

"Veronica, what happened?" Keith said before lifting her face up and gently touching the forming bruises.

"I'm fine. It was just a stupid fight." Veronica said quickly, hoping it would be enough, although she knew it wouldn't.

"Who was this fight with?" Keith asked his niece sternly, she knew there was no backing out of this.

"Umm… just a girl from school. It was no big."

"Veronica..."

"Fine. It was with Lilly Kane." Veronica admitted after sighing dramatically.

"Lilly Kane? Well - what was it about?"

"Oh, the usual, we showed up wearing the same outfit, things got ugly." Veronica said lightly.

"Veronica, seriously," Keith pleaded, "Was it at school?"

"No."

"Will you tell me what it was about?"

Veronica looked around a bit, avoiding Keith's eyes. "Well… it started off as an innocent verbal sparring, then she let the air out of my tires, and then I, uh, planted a bong in her locker." She whispered this all in one barely audible breath.

Keith sighed, but there was a slight bit of pride in his eyes at how she managed to plant the bong, although he'd never tell her that. "So then what? You two just fought?"

"She waited for me at the beach, and then she made me guess what happened because of the bong. Of course, I did not give her the answer she was looking for so," Veronica made a slapping motion, "But I didn't fight back for a little bit, but then she- she, uh," at this point Keith started to see the evidence of tears in her eyes, "she made this comment about me not having my _dad_ here to protect me, and I just lost it."

When Keith saw the single tear that rolled down her cheek his heart broke once again for the girl. He gathered her in his arms as she cried. "You know I love you, right?" And then Veronica looked up at him with the widest, most genuine smile he'd ever seen on her face. She nodded and then hugged him even tighter.

_Lilly Kane was wrong. There is someone who loves Veronica Mars._


	3. Chapter 3

So many of you have been asking about who Veronica will end up with. Will it be Logan, Duncan, or Dick? Well… I'm not quite sure yet. So keep adding your input and I'll see where I go with this, although I do have a little something in mind. Hope you enjoy my latest installment!

So I just realized, since I made Lianne Veronica's mother, why is Keith single? Well if anyone was wondering that I will clear it up somehow in this chapter.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"Rent it if you wanna rent it. I'm just saying, I'm not gonna watch it." Veronica says as she walks through the aisles of the movie store, followed by Keith. Keith keeps walking but she pauses at the counter where a young boy, Justin, is working. His ears had pricked up when he heard her voice. Veronica says to Justin, "There's only so many times a girl can watch 'Slapshot', you know what I'm saying?" She then grabs a piece of gum from the counter and starts chewing.

Justin looks nervous and asks, "So, um, is it t-true your uncle's a-a PI?"

"That's what it says on the sign."

"And you work with him?"

"Sometimes." Veronica says, quirking an eyebrow.

"Can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure."

"It's kinda private."

Veronica looks around the store, and seeing people within earshot, says quietly, "Find me at school tomorrow."

"Okay." Justin answers before Keith approaches the counter with a couple DVDs.

"I got 'The Cowboys' too, just in case we need a backup."

Veronica holds up her hand behind Keith to show Justin that it's the fifth time Keith checked out 'The Cowboys', to which Justin smiles.

……………

In the hallways of Neptune High, Logan, Lilly, Duncan, and Meg stand by the lockers chatting. Then, they catch sight of Veronica Mars dragging some little freshman kid into the girls' bathroom.

"Seriously, what is wrong with that loser?" Lilly asks disdainfully.

"Will you lay off her, Lilly?" Duncan says weakly to his sister.

"And _why_ would I do that?" She asks curiously.

"Because she's new. It's always hard when you're the new kid." Meg offers shyly.

"Whatever. I'll have to get back to you on that." Lilly says with an evil smirk and then sashayed her way down the hallway, all eyes following her every move.

"Seriously, what's her problem?" Duncan questions his best friend.

"You know," Logan reveals with a grin, "I think Lilly Kane may have met her match."

……………

Rebecca James, the school guidance counselor, approaches Keith as he walks into the Administrations office, and offers her hand. "Mr. Mars, hi. Thank you for coming in."

"Miss James, yeah. I was a little surprised by your call."

"Oh, I don't want you to worry. Veronica's an excellent student." Rebecca leads Keith into her office. "I think she's amazing. She's got a great mind."

"So why exactly am I here?" Keith asks.

Rebecca closes the door to her office and heads over to her desk. "Well, we're concerned about Veronica's attitude. She's continually late to class, she has attitude with certain teachers, she falls asleep in class and socially, she seems to be a bit isolated. Not to mention she seems to have made an enemy in the school." Rebecca sits down, however Keith continues to stand.

"Well, Veronica hasn't had an easy time. With her mom dying, and moving to a new school, and-"

"I know. And as I understand Veronica has been telling people that _both _her mother and father have died? Yet her records only show her mother dying."

Keith sighs and takes a seat across from Rebecca. "It's complicated."

"Well I've been looking through her past files, and I've noticed a pattern of unexplainable injuries, depression, and social isolation. One of her teachers from last year mentioned that he thought that maybe her father was abusing her? Is this true?" She states and asks at the same time.

"Yes, it's true. Um, her mother always wanted her to get away from him. I tried to help but until she died I couldn't do anything. But Veronica doesn't like to talk about everything that happened to her. It'll do you no use to try and get her to talk."

"Alright, I understand. But if you ever need help, I'd be more than willing-"

"No, no. I can handle it, thank you for the heads up."

"Anytime." Rebecca says before Keith leaves the room, leaving her scribbling down notes in Veronica's permanent file.

……………

Veronica and Wallace are at Mars Investigations, where Veronica is on the phone at her desk and Wallace is on the other side stuffing envelopes. Currently, Veronica is recording a message when Keith enters the office. "Hello. You've reached the administration office of the Stanford summer program." She holds up a finger to tell Keith to wait. "No one's here to take your call right now but leave us a message and we'll call you back." After Veronica finishes the recording and hangs up the phone she says a 'sorry' to Keith.

Wallace stands up and faces Keith who looks quizzingly at him for a moment before holding out his hand, to which Wallace shakes firmly.

"Keith Mars."

"Hi, Sir. Wallace Fennel.

"Wallace is a friend of mine," Veronica says pridefully, "Take that, high school guidance counselor." She says with a playful karate chop.

"Well, hello Wallace. Now what's going on here?"

"Helping a kid at school locate his deadbeat dad, the somewhat inconveniently named John Smith." Keith looks at Veronica for a moment to gauge her reaction to 'deadbeat dad' but seeing none, he heads into his office, and Veronica follows. "But I've narrowed the field down to 440 John Smiths. So I'm sending each of them a letter addressed to his son congratulating him on his scholarship and I figure if our John Smith has any conscience at all, he'll see the name of his son, open the letter and call to say he's got the wrong address."

"Part of me is proud… and let's just leave it at that."

Veronica grins and Keith dumps his jacket and searches through the filing cabinet while Veronica returns to her seat. "Oh, I used one of the dedicated phone lines. I hope that's all right. We're gonna trace all the calls that come in."

"So how did she rope you into this?" Keith asks Wallace.

"She promised me all the answer keys to-" but seeing Veronica's stern warning look, he says, "She's promised to be my friend."

"I'd of held out for a better offer." Veronica and Wallace grin at eachother. "I'll be in my office." Keith then disappears into his office and shuts the door.

Quietly, Veronica asks Wallace, "Hey, would you do me a favor?"

"Why did all the hair on the back of my neck just stick up?"

"It's not that big of a deal, just… the next time you're in the Administrations Office, could you borrow my permanent file? I want to see what the counselor is telling my uncle."

"Oh yeah, no big deal. I can get expelled for that."

Veronica looks at him in a pout, and Wallace nods dejectedly.

……………

Veronica is waiting for Wallace in the quad on a ledge to show up with her permanent file, so she can see what Miss James had to say about her. She's looking at the doors to the quad and after a few minutes she spots him slowly walking out into the sunlight. What confuses Veronica is the look on his face. He looks somewhat pale, quite sad, and when he reaches Veronica and looks into her eyes, she sees something resembling pity looking back at her.

"Okay… what's going on?" Veronica asks slowly.

"I read your file. Miss James added a note the other day." Wallace admits while looking at the ground.

"Oh-kayy. What did it say?"

"Well, it said that- Well, I think you should, uh, read it for yourself."

"Sure." Veronica says while holding out her hand for the file. Wallace places it into her palm hesitantly and then she hurriedly flips it open and searches for the newest note.

While Veronica is flipping through the papers, Wallace adds quickly, "I'm _so _sorry Veronica."

"For what?" She asks before she pulls out the piece of paper she's looking for.

"For what your, uh, dad did to you."

But Veronica barely hears what Wallace said as she stares at the note written by Miss James:

_Keith Mars confirms the question of the abuse Veronica received from her father. That, along with her mother's death, is likely the cause for much of her attitude. _

"I- I _can't believe _he told her! Why would he tell her! This is _my _private business, no one else's. Ugh!" Veronica then stands up and slams the file closed before stalking off, with Wallace trailing guiltily behind her. However neither one of them noticed the lone person who overhead everything they said, and even managed to snap a picture of the note in question.

……………

When Veronica stormed into the apartment and found her uncle sitting innocently on the couch, watching the TV, she grew even more furious. "What the _hell_! How could you tell Miss James about my father and what he did?!? You had no right!"

"Hey," Keith starts sternly, "Watch the language. And I did it because I'm worried about you."

Veronica softened a little, and her tone was calmer when she says with tears in her eyes, "But you know how I feel about it. I don't want anyone to know. And now Wallace knows, and all I see in his eyes are pity. I can't stand it!" She wipes away the stray tear that slid down her cheek.

Keith sighs and then looks into her sad eyes, "I'm sorry Veronica, I just thought if she knew that she wouldn't reprimand you for your poor attitude and she'd just leave you alone. I told her that you wouldn't talk to her."

Veronica smiled at that, "Thanks, Uncle Keith."

"I just want you to be happy Veronica. You and Nick are all I've got. And with him being in the Peace Corps, I rarely see him anymore." Keith informed her defeatedly of the son he rarely saw. After Keith and Michelle divorced when Nick was only nine, Nick was only able to spend summers, holidays, and a few weekends with his dad. And Veronica hadn't seen her cousin in five years, ever since he discovered the abuse she received from her father when she was 12, who then kept her away. Now, at 22, Nick had graduated college and immediately joined the Peace Corps and traveled to Africa.

"I miss him too."

"Well, you won't have to miss him anymore!" A booming voice said from the now open doorway. There stood Nicholas William Mars, a tall, muscular, guy with shaggy black hair and piercing green eyes. Both Keith and Veronica stood in shock at the guy, and then Veronica ran into Nick's open arms. When they released from their hug Nick looked her up and down and let out a wide smile. "Looks like you grew up, Ronnie!" Veronica punched him playfully in the arm at the use of the nickname.

"You haven't changed a bit, _ick_." Veronica retorted using the name she gave him when she was five.

"Very funny." Said Nick before giving his dad a bear hug and sitting on the couch and propping his feet up on the coffee table. Keith dragged in Nick's bags and then sat down in the chair; Veronica had already curled up into Nick's side. "So, Ronnie," Began Nick in a softer tone, "How are you?" And while the question could be construed as one someone normally asks, the look in his eyes was asking _how much has he hurt you since the last time I saw you?_

"I'm better, now that I'm here." Veronica answered and smiled up at Keith.

"Well, guess what I brought?" Nick proposed, changing the subject.

"What?"

"The new season of South Park." Nick told Veronica while pulling out the box from his backpack.

Veronica squealed and grabbed the box of DVDs. She hurriedly placed the first one in the DVD player and started playing the hilarity that is South Park.

Eventually, Veronica fell asleep, and so Nick picked her up in his arms and carried her into her room. After placing her in her bed, he pulled up the covers, kissed her forehead, and whispered, "Night, Ron."

Nick tip-toed out of the room and talked to Keith, who was still awake and currently watching the tenth episode. "So what happened?"

Keith stopped the DVD and turned to face his son, a look of sadness displayed in his features. "Lianne died, and as you know, she always wanted me to get Veronica away from Pete. So I convinced Pete that if he let me take custody of Veronica, then I wouldn't go to the police about the abuse. He complied, but he didn't leave Veronica without a 'final goodbye'."

"Fuck."

"It was bad, so much blood, I think he may have whipped her twelve times before she got out. She had a nasty bruise on her cheek, too. And then there were so many old scars on her back; I don't even want to _think about _what else that man has done to her. I witnessed a change in her, she was almost fourteen, and I hate to think it, but I'm guessing he probably, uh, sexually abused her too. God I hate Pete."

"The sick bastard."

"Just, don't try and talk to her about it. Maybe tomorrow you two can do something. I don't know, you could teach her how to surf or something? Get her mind off things."

"No problem."

"All right, well I'm going to bed. See you in the morning."

"Good night, dad."

……………

Nick and Veronica were sitting on their surfboards out in the ocean of Dog Beach, waiting for a wave to come. Nick spotted one suitable for Veronica. "All right, Ron, time to show me what you got."

She paddled off to the small wave, and when it was time, jumped up and rode it to the end. Nick hollered and applauded his cousin, who then went up to the beach to rest. He spotted a large wave, perfect for his standards, and rode it perfectly. When he finished he jogged up to the beach towards Veronica but was interrupted by a girl around Veronica's age with long blonde hair, flirty eyes, and wearing a skimpy red bikini.

"Hey, I haven't seen you around here before." The girl told him, batting her eyelashes.

"I've been gone for awhile." He replied, looking past her to his cousin.

"Well, you should come hang out with me and my friends." She pointed off to her left towards a small group of a couple guys and girls.

"Umm-"

"I'm Lilly, by the way."

"Lilly Kane?" He asked skeptically.

Her eyes widened and a small lit up her face. "That's me."

"Yeah, I'd rather not. Bye." And Nick strode up to where his cousin was waiting for him with an amused smile on her face. "What's so funny, Veronica?"

"Oh, nothing. Just that the biggest slut in my school wants in your pants." And she started laughing, and he joined in. If either of them had looked to where Lilly was standing, they would have noticed that she was fuming and completely red in the face. It's not like they would have cared.

A few minutes went by of playful banter and conversation between the two cousins, until they were interrupted by a horde of teenagers standing in front of them. Lilly, Madison, Shelley, Dick, Beaver, and Logan were all standing there.

"Hey Ve-ron-ica." Lilly said with a glare towards her.

"Umm… hi?"

"So, who's your friend?"

Veronica rolled her eyes and pointed to her cousin. "This is my cousin Nick."

"Oh," Lilly purred with a smile, "So what are you up to tonight, Nick?"

"Just hanging out with Ronnie." He said before putting an arm around Veronica's shoulders.

"Well, if _that _gets boring, which I'm sure it will, you should come to my party."

"Sounds awfully intriguing, but I'm afraid I'm a bit too old to be hanging with a whole bunch of drunk teenagers."

Lilly leaned down to whisper in his ear and Nick just rolled his eyes. "You don't have to hang out with everyone else, just me."

"Seriously, kid, if you want to get in my pants, ask already, so I can turn you down and we can all be on our merry little ways." Lilly looked quite offended, although Veronica wasn't sure if it was the 'kid' or Nick turning her down. Either way, it was hilarious to see the look on her face. Dick and Beaver were chuckling, but stopped when Logan hit their arms.

"Ex_cuse_ me?"

"Lilly," Veronica started, "Why don't you just leave us alone. Unlike every other guy in Neptune, Nick doesn't want a piece of you. So, shoo! Run along now." Veronica waved her hands in front of her.

"Veronica Mars, do you want a repeat of the other day? Or did you forget how I kicked your ass?"

"If I recall correctly, I had the upper hand in that match, and I was decent enough to end the childish thing."

"What are you talking about?" Nick questioned, but the girls ignored him.

"If anything's childish it's planting a bong in someone's locker-"

"I believe that was because you slashed my tires."

"You don't have any proof."

"And neither do you." Veronica smirked and Lilly huffed, and was then quiet for a few seconds. "Look, I don't have time for these little sparring matches. Come on Nick, let's go." She stood up and pulled Nick up as well. After gathering up their stuff they trudged up the beach, leaving the group of teens behind.

……………

Veronica crept in the door to the apartment, praying that at least Keith was asleep, and was rewarded when she saw Nick lounging on the couch and Keith no where in sight.

"Where've you been, Ron? It's awfully late."

"I was helping this kid find his long-lost father." Veronica admitted with a sigh, then she joined Nick and curled up next to him.

"How'd that go for you?"

"Well, we found, uh, I guess I'd have to say _her_." At Nick's confused look Veronica elaborated. "His dad underwent a sex change, creepy huh? But hopefully he took my advice and decided to let, uh,_ her_ back in his life. His _dad?_, gosh this is hard, travels ninety miles once a week just to see Justin for a few seconds."

Nick was about to say something when there was a brief knock on the door. "I'll get it." Veronica muttered before getting up and opening the door. However, no one was on the other side, and Veronica looked, but couldn't spot anyone running off anywhere. When she was about to shut the door, she noticed an envelope taped to the door. She curiously picked it off, shut the door, and went to the kitchen counter to open it.

"What is it?" Nick asked.

"No idea." Veronica proceeded to open the envelope, revealing a piece of paper with newspaper letters glued to it. Apparently, the sender liked things the old fashioned way. As soon as Veronica processed what was spelled out, she dropped the paper, and tears started to form in her eyes. Nick noticed the change and came up to her side to see what the paper said.

"Oh my god."

………………………………………………………………………………………………

_Yes, I am oh so terribly evil!!! I leave it on a cliffhanger. If you review, I promise to write faster!_

_And if you have anything you want to be added, (don't worry, there'll be some LoVe eventually), just post it and I'll incorporate it into my story. I'd really appreciate some prompts. _


	4. Chapter 4

So I am really sorry that I haven't updated in like two months, but I started writing it in one direction and then I decided that I didn't like it so now I've started this chapter over. And then I got this idea for a new story and I've written a couple chapters of that. Then the holidays came, and this is the first break I've gotten in awhile.

I'm very glad that everyone likes Nick! I've tried to write my own character once before but it didn't work out. But thank you guys for the awesome reviews!

I know that many of you want this to be LoVe, but I'm not really sure yet. I still really like the idea of Dick and Veronica.

This chapter is about the homecoming episode and I know that The Faders played in the second season's homecoming but they're playing now.

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

_Previously:_

"_What is it?" Nick asked._

"_No idea." Veronica proceeded to open the envelope, revealing a piece of paper with newspaper letters glued to it. Apparently, the sender liked things the old fashioned way. As soon as Veronica processed what was spelled out, she dropped the paper, and tears started to form in her eyes. Nick noticed the change and came up to her side to see what the paper said._

"_Oh my god." _

Veronica couldn't believe what she had seen spelled out on the paper, but it was engraved in her mind. She tried to get rid of the image by closing her eyes but she still saw it. But it couldn't be true. Veronica _refused _to think that **"**_**Veronica's dad wasn't her biological father**_**"** is true. Because if it were, that would mean that all the abuse she suffered through was done by some stranger. Some man that she had no connection with. And that her mother allowed it.

_NO! _Veronica's heart screamed. _There's no way mom could have known!_ But as she thought it through, she found that her mother's infidelity could have been reason for the abuse. But then, everything would have been her mom's fault. Veronica was drawing in shallow breaths and her eyes were squeezed shut as she tried to level the world that was tipping around her.

Nick watched for awhile as Veronica tried to process what she had read, and as he tried to process it as well. _There's no way. NO way. _He assured himself before kneeling down and bringing the crying girl into his arms. Rocking her back and forth, he whispered soothing nonsense into her ear until the crying subsided. Then he picked her up and carried her to her room. "Good night, Ronnie." He whispered before tucking her in.

……………

"No… No… NO… STOP IT!... Help me, please… NO!" The screaming from the bedroom woke Nick and he groggily tried to place the noise. A loud "STOP" directed his attention to Veronica's bedroom and he quickly went to the room to find his cousin – _(or is she?)_ he thought – thrashing about with the covers at the foot of the bed.

"Ronnie!" He pulled her into his arms to try and stop the nightmare. "Veronica!" He said louder. All of a sudden her eyes shot open and she stopped thrashing about. Her breathing was heavy and her face flushed. After looking around and spotting Nick she relaxed and took a few calming breaths.

"I'm okay. I – I'm fine." Veronica said before settling down into her pillows and covering her face with her hands. "It was just a nightmare. I'm okay. You should go back to sleep." Nick wasn't sure if she was trying to convince him or herself that she was okay, but he let it go.

"All right, Ronnie, I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

"Yeah, see you in the morning." Nick brushed the hair from her forehead and kissed it before walking out of her room and settling down on the couch, but he never got back to sleep.

……………

"Hi Karl, it's Amber." Veronica says in a bouncy tone while talking on her cell phone, "Um, I got an email from you, I guess by mistake but I think I can help you. Give me a call. 555-0196." After she closes the phone the school bell rings, "And I'm late for bio, again." Then to Georgia, the girl she just agreed to help get her money back, "Ten percent of whatever I recover."

Georgia nods and Veronica starts to walk out of the restroom, which she has now claimed as her 'office' but first she uses her cell again. "Hi!" She begins bouncy and dumb to her message greeting, "You've reached Amber. Leave me a message."

Veronica's new friend Wallace grins and mouths 'Thank you'.

Wallace looks back at his new crush and points to his departed friend, "Did I tell you?"

……………

Veronica is sitting in the journalism classroom looking at a computer while the television broadcast is underway. _…last day to buy homecoming tickets. No homecoming tickets for the dance will be sold after that time._

Veronica has never gone to the homecoming dance. Of course Pete wouldn't allow her to do such a thing. She was always confused as to why he seemed to be so over-protective, yet he was the one she needed protecting from.

Veronica's thoughts are interrupted from the other side of the room where she hears Logan roar at Lilly, "Fine, find your own date to Homecoming!" He then storms out of the room and when Veronica looks over to find Lilly trying to flirt with Dick, she's incredibly glad she's not friends with that group of people.

……………

Veronica is standing at her open locker, a look of contemplation on her face as she thinks about homecoming, Lilly and Logan, and the letter she received last night. Eventually she snaps out of it and closes her locker as Wallace comes up behind her.

In a very chirpy mood Wallace speaks, "Ladies and gentlemen, Veronica Mars. I've talked to that girl more today than I have in the past four months combined."

Now Veronica is smiling broadly since Wallace has blown her bad mood away, "Her pain is your pleasure?"

"Hey, hey, I'm the cavalry. I get to save the day. We are going to save the day? Right?"

Veronica's phone starts to ring, "Hello?" After hearing the response she puts a hand on Wallace's arm in a motion of saying 'this is it'. Then with Amber's simper, "Oh yeah, this is Amber." Wallace crosses his fingers and gets increasingly excited as he listens to Veronica speak. "Oh my god, hi! … Of course I can meet you today, what time?" Veronica and Wallace walk forward with identical grins on their faces.

……………

Veronica is walking down the halls of Neptune High with Wallace the next day, reviewing the findings of yesterday. _So 'Karl' is really a stupid actor named Jimmy Spain who thought he was on 'Duped'. Great. _Wallace nudges her to get her attention. She sighs before continuing on with their conversation.

"A pay phone that doesn't accept incoming calls. Shocker. From a place called Gameland. I guess it's a cybercafé but I'll check it out."

"Naw, it's not a cybercafé, it's a gaming club. It's like a bunch of computer nerds trying to blow each other up. Only girls they see in there are japanimated. So, you're not going to really blend."

"So I won't blend." She says while thinking of exactly how she won't be blending.

……………

Veronica walks into the gaming club wearing a short black page boy wig, and an outfit like that of Sailor Moon, the schoolgirl killer from Kill Bill, which happens to be a movie she recently watched. Every guy turns to stare at her as she makes her way through the club. After swapping her ID for an ear piece she says a 'thanks' and then moves further into the depths of the club; all eyes still on her. Veronica spies two guys sitting on a couch playing a game and plonks herself down between them. The one on her left is irritated by her company but the one on the right is a tad more interested, however they continue with their game.

"I have one word. Ownage." The guy on the left says.

"I care." The other responds.

"Aaaand, I just fried you again."

Veronica watches as they shoot each other on the screen.

"Ooohh." The guy on the left says. Veronica smiles and turns to him.

"Can you watch my stuff?"

"Yeah."

She pulls a piece of paper from her bag and leaves it on the couch as she gets up. Walking behind the couch she reaches where the names of the people playing are listed. Looking at the copy of Georgia's email for the scammer, Veronica compares it with the screen. _Grrrantula, a gamer. Email from grrrantastic-tech. A coincidence, I think not._ She types 'Gamegirl' into the new player login. "Gamegirl," Veronica says to herself with a smile.

A while later Veronica rummages through the ID box, finding her's _and_ Grant's and takes both of them. "It was hiding under the Q's." She says to the guy behind the counter and makes her way out looking at the ID, not seeing the other person coming. They hit and Veronica almost falls down but the guy grabs her arms to steady her. When she looks up and sees the face, she wants to curl up inside herself and die. Oh boy will she _never_ hear the end of this.

A smirk crosses Logan's face as he views the disguised Veronica Mars before him, who's looking everywhere but at him nervously. They pause for a moment before they both blurt out, "What are you doing here?"

Logan, always the drama queen, answers first without objection, "Well, _I _come here to kick some nerds' asses at videogames when I get bored with beating DK or Dick. But I don't think I've seen _you _here before. Trying to _broaden _your horizons? Find that special someone?"

Veronica's eyes narrow as he talks in a jackass tone. "Not like it's any of your information, but I'm here on a _case_. I didn't think I'd blend in wearing my usual clothes, and I didn't want anyone to recognize me." Then she muttered to herself quietly, _"Didn't really work."_

"Well baby, in that little outfit, you can be on _my_ case anytime!"

"And now I'm leaving." However Veronica is thinking that there definitely is _not _a God as Logan Echolls follows her out of Gameland and into the parking lot. "Uggh… why can't you just leave me alone." She says, frustrated, as she pulls off the wig and shakes out her short blonde tresses.

Logan is transfixed by the gorgeous blonde in front of him, and can't help his eyes from wandering to her chest, where something besides her hair is bouncing ever so slightly. Quickly he shakes his head to keep his mind clear and plants his trademark smirk back on his face. "Now, Miss Mars, what would be the fun in that? Do you honestly think I'm going to just let this opportunity pass me by? I mean, here you are, fulfilling one of a guy's top ten fantasies. I must savor the moment."

Veronica squeezes her eyes shut and tries to suppress her bubbling anger. She counts backwards from ten in her mind, takes a deep breath, and opens her eyes. _Shit, it didn't work. He's still here._ She narrows her eyes at him.

Almost as if reading her mind, "Sorry there Mars, but you can't wish me away."

"But I could run you over with my car. That might make you go away." Veronica then turns and quickly walks the rest of the way to her car. Logan lingers where he was and admires the rear view of the newly unleashed hotness of Veronica Mars. "When I turn around, if you're looking at my ass I am _so_ tasering you!"

Logan just smirks and shifts his gaze to her head, "See you later, anime chick!"

Veronica huffs, _stupid obligatory psychotic jackass!_

……………

Veronica and Wallace enter school and Wallace is talking about the previous night's activities. "My first college party. Drinking Piña Coladas with a dude and talking about math."

"They've gotta be hiding something big in that dorm room to have that much security," Veronica thinks out loud, "I mean, an-an alarm that sends a message to your cell phone? What's wrong with a deadbolt?" As Veronica finishes she realizes that Wallace has fallen back and she follows his loving gaze to Georgia, who is at her locker. "Wow! You've got it bad."

"Nothing bad about this my friend." Wallace then makes his way over to Georgia, as Veronica watches fondly for a moment. However the moment is ruined when someone bumps into Veronica, spilling their books onto the floor.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Veronica says, kneeling down to help pick up the books. She then looks up to see the person's face, and to her surprise it's Lilly Kane.

"Don't worry about it." She says back. Veronica is quite surprised that Lilly hasn't taken the opportunity to humiliate her or bitch her out. As Veronica hands a striped binder to Lilly, they meet each others' eyes, and Veronica feels as if Lilly is searching her face for something. But the moment passes as quickly as it began, and the binder is out of her hands and Lilly has started walking in the direction she had been previously going.

Veronica looks after Lilly for a few seconds, pondering the girl's strange behavior. Then she gets up and continues on her way to class. While walking she sees a homecoming poster, the theme being "Made for Each Other". _At least it's a song I like, but I'm really surprised they have a Jack's Mannequin song. Weird. _Then she sees something else that makes her halt. Apparently, the dance will be featuring a live band, The Faders. _No way. They're awesome. I swear someone is doing this just to get me to come to this stupid dance. _

……………

At the end of the school day Veronica is standing at her locker, gathering all of her homework, when Wallace leans up against the locker beside her and shoves a rectangular piece of paper in her face.

"What's this?" She inquires.

"Just read it."

Veronica reads, and she turns to Wallace with a look of horror etched on her face. "No. NO. There is NO WAY I'm going to this dance. Uh-uh. NOT happening."

"Come on, Veronica. Please! Georgia really wants another girl with her, and she even offered to lend you one of her old dresses. You know you want to go."

"I so do not. These dances are all just excuses to get all close to someone and then screw them at the end of the night. And plus, I'm dateless."

"Aww… come on now. The great Veronica Mars doesn't need men. And you don't have to stay for long, just for a few songs and then you can have the limo driver bring you home."

"I don't know…" Veronica started to give in a bit.

"Please! _Pretty please!!!_"

"Fine," Veronica sighed, "But only because you begged." However Veronica smiled when she saw Wallace's face light up brightly. "But you _so_ owe me."

……………

Veronica is sitting in the quad, listening to the bug her uncle planted while in Grant and Liam's room 'searching for drugs'.

Eventually she hears what she's looking for and is able to duplicate the alarm, 0227. Satisfied with her findings, she packs up her stuff and heads home. However the whole time, she never noticed the fidgeting person who had been trying to make up their mind about whether or not they'd go talk to Veronica.

……………

At the Kane household, Lilly is dragging her brother upstairs and into her room, away from all the maids and their parents.

"Geez, Lilly, what was that for?" Asked Duncan, quite annoyed with his older sister.

"Chill, Donut. I have some _really interesting_ information that concerns us." She pauses in order to increase the anticipation.

Finally unable to take it, "What is it? Just tell me!"

"Well… I overheard a little conversation between our parents the other day." Lilly says slyly, dragging out the sentence.

"And?"

"It _seems_ as though daddy dearest isn't exactly as perfect as he seems and is harboring quite a secret." Lilly's eyes are dancing with mischief and her smirk is fully in place.

"What's his secret?" Duncan has now given his full attention to Lilly and is sitting on the end of her bed.

"Miss Lianne Reynolds."

"Who's that?"

"Dad's high-school sweetheart and ex-lover. And, the mother of none other than Veronica Mars."

Duncan's jaw drops, "Wh - what does that mean?"

"It means that we might have a half-sister."

"You're joking, right?"

"Nope." Lilly answers with complete seriousness.

"So… what do we do now?"

"We find out if she's our sister. But don't worry, the first part of the plan has already begun. Now shoo, I've got stuff to do!"

Duncan rolls his eyes and leaves his sister's room. However, a million thoughts are running through his head.

……………

Veronica arrives home to find Nick jabbing at the PS2 controller and a look of concentration on his face. "You sure haven't changed."

Nick looks up for a moment then goes back to his game. "Hey now," he defends himself, "at least I'm not still fascinated with unicorns and ponies."

Veronica scoffs, "How would you know that?"

"Dad told me that's what you said you wanted when he had asked you about your birthday present."

"All girls like ponies and unicorns."

"Yeah, when they're five. But all guys like videogames, no matter what their age."

"Fine. You win. Happy?"

"Very much so." Nick then presses the x button multiple times in a row then stands up and pumps his fist in victory. "Yes!"

"Real mature, Nick. You're gonna snag yourself a lady in _no _time."

"Ha ha."

Veronica walks to her bedroom and deposits her bag before changing her mind and picking it up again. She walks back out to the main area of the apartment. "Will you go shopping with me?"

Nick pauses his game and gives Veronica a strange look. "Are you serious?"

Veronica sighs, "Look, my friend Wallace is making me go to homecoming and I need a dress. Please, will you go with me?"

"All right, but we get to do something of my choosing sometime."

"Fine, now let's go."

……………

Veronica is dragging a very reluctant Nick into the third dress store they've visited in the mall. Nick sighs as Veronica scans the dresses, checking the price tags and grimacing at the expensive prices. She makes her way to the back of the store where she finds the clearance rack. After making her way around half of it she spots a strapless red dress. She pulls it out and smiles when she sees the size and price. "Nick! I found it!"

"Thank god." He says as he walks over. Veronica elbows him playfully in the ribs. "Are you going to try it on?"

"Yeah. Now you need to tell me if I look good. And be honest!"

Veronica hurries inside of a dressing room and slips on the dress. She then opens the door slowly and timidly stands in front of her cousin. Nick's eyebrows raise and his mouth opens a bit in shock. Veronica crosses her arms protectively in front of her chest as she looks around and spots some other customers. "Are you going to say anything?" She asks the speechless Nick.

"Wow. Ronnie you look beautiful." He says sincerely.

Veronica blushes a bit but hides it well. After gathering her confidence she does a little spin for him and strikes a pose, to which Nick laughs. "So shall I buy it?"

"Definitely." Nick then takes on a mock motherly voice, "You're just growin' up so fast. I don't know what I'm gonna do!" Veronica rolls her eyes as she walks back to the dressing room and changes from the dress.

……………

As Liam and Grant head for the garbage can to find the backup discs Veronica hid, Wallace, Georgia, and her head back towards her car.

"This just doesn't seem fair," Georgia begins, "I keep thinking about all the people who were scammed and how they don't have kickass friends." Georgia laughs.

"Did you know there's a whole anti-fraud agency in the FBI? I guess it's a big deal. And I was shocked to see how interested they were in the information I had on Liam and Grant." Veronica smiles as she says this.

"Game over."

Veronica continues to walk as Wallace stops to give Georgia her money. Wallace turns to wave to Veronica when Georgia grabs his face and kisses him. Veronica looks back over her shoulder and smiles at the sight.

"I got one, I got one." Liam says to which Grant replies "You got one?"

Hearing this Veronica's smile grows even more and she gets in her car shaking her head at the day she's had.

……………

Veronica, Georgia, and Wallace step out of the limo laughing as they make their way into the school, which is decorated for the dance. Veronica fakely smiles and tries not to be disappointed as she watches Georgia and Wallace smile happily as they get their picture taken. Then the trio heads to the dance floor and dance together as Corny, the DJ for between the breaks of the band, plays some upbeat music. After a few songs a slow song comes on and Wallace looks to Veronica sympathetically.

"Hey, I'm going to go freshen up, but you guys have fun. I'll be back in a bit."

Instead of going to the bathroom, Veronica decides to roam the halls and she walks around the school. As she almost comes full circle to the gym doors she sees a flash of bright pink out of the corner of her eye and she looks down the hallway to the left and is excited at what she sees. Down the hall, she sees the three members of The Faders talking. After a moment's hesitation she walks down the hallway to talk to them.

"Hey." She says nervously as she approaches.

The girls turn around to look at her curiously.

Veronica keeps her cool as she explains herself, "I was just walking by and I couldn't pass up the chance to meet you guys. I'm kind of a fan."

The three girls look at each other conspiringly and then Toy, the bassist and writer of their songs steps forward. "How big of a fan are you?"

"What do you mean?" Veronica asks, confused.

Cherisse, the drummer, elaborates, "Like, have you just heard some of our songs occasionally, or do you know them all by heart?"

"Umm… I know them by heart." Veronica admits embarrassedly.

The three girls smile at each other and then the lead guitarist and singer, Molly, steps forward and says in a scratchy voice, "Can you sing?"

Veronica is confused by the question and her voice. "First, why? And are you okay?"

"I've got a sore throat, so I can't sing. But what about you?"

Veronica looks at the three hopeful girls and decides to take a leap. "Yeah."

……………

Wallace is looking around the dance floor as The Faders take the stage. "Where is Veronica? I thought she was going to be back by now."

"Maybe she found someone to dance with?" Georgia offered.

"No, something's up. She'd definitely be back, she loves The Faders."

Toy Valentine's voice interrupts their conversation as she introduces the band and then adds a second note, "Because our lead vocalist, Molly, has a slight cold, she is unable to sing tonight. However, we ran into someone who is willing to take her place and sing. Just thought we'd let you know, now on with the show!"

A girl in a miniskirt with ripped fishnets and a red tanktop, one of the extra outfits Toy had brought to decide between, walks onstage, however the dark lighting doesn't allow anyone to see her face. She grabs the offered microphone and turns around, so her back faces the crowd. The lighting lights up her back and the students can see her short curly hair. Wallace sees this, and when he hears her voice sing the first few lines of "No Sleep Tonight", the truth begins to dawn on him. As Veronica sings _So I'll just make this, a little more obvious_ she turns around and smirks at the shocked faces of everyone in the crowd.

"Yeah Veronica!" Wallace shouts which gives Veronica an extra boost of confidence and she starts dancing around the stage and interacting with Molly and Toy.

Lilly and a college guy named Kevin are grinding in one section of the dance floor and she looks at her potential sister and can't help the proud feeling that comes over her. She shares a smile with Duncan as he dances more conservatively with Meg. However the feeling is ruined as she feels a tap on her shoulder and Madison is there. "Oh my god, I can't believe that Veronica Mars is singing. Ugh, she sounds horrible."

"Actually Madison," Logan says as he walks over to them from the opposite side with a perky sophomore hanging off his side, "I think Veronica is an amazing singer." However he addressed this statement to Lilly, not Madison.

"I think I'll leave you two kids to bicker while Kev and I go do something a little more fun." She winks at Logan, who gets an angered look on his face, before grabbing her date's hand and dragging him off somewhere.

_Tell me baby, are you coming with me? _Veronica pretends to motion someone over and then jumps with the guitar before the chorus starts up again.

Dick and Cassidy walk up beside a fuming Madison. "Hey babe." Dick says before slinging an arm around his date's shoulders.

"Ugh, don't touch me. I'm _so_ not in the mood." Madison shrugs off his arm.

"What's wrong?" Dick tries to be sincere but is wishing he had gone stag instead of bringing Madison.

"What's wrong? What's WRONG!?! That bitch Veronica is what's wrong. God she's corrupted everybody. I can't believe people actually like her!"

"Why shouldn't people like her?" Cassidy spoke up nervously, "I mean, people like you."

Dick couldn't contain his laughter at this and he jokingly slapped his younger brother on the back. "Nice one, Beav."

Madison's mouth dropped open and she looked to her right. "Shelley. We're leaving. Now." The brunette obliged and ran like a puppy to Madison's side. "Bye, losers."

"Ouch, that hurts so much." Dick said sarcastically as she walked away. Then he turned his attention to the stage and watched as Veronica sang more of the song.

_Do I have to spell it out in black and white?_

"She's really awesome." Cassidy said to his older brother as he watched Veronica as well.

"And totally hot, too." Dick said with a smile on his face. "Hey, Logan."

Logan, who was dancing with his date turned his head. "Yeah, man."

"You should invite Veronica to your party after the dance."

"Um, why?"

"Dude, she's like, my dream girl. She's badass, smokin' hot, and who knows what else she can do with that mouth besides sing." Dick felt almost disgusting after saying this, but he wouldn't admit that to anyone. He found himself wishing he could have said that she's nice, smart, pretty, and real. Basically the opposite of Madison.

"Sure, whatever."

"Sweet. I, uh, think I'm gonna go spike the punch."

"Have fun, Dick." Logan said dismissively before returning his attention to his date whose name he couldn't remember.

Dick then dragged Cassidy towards the refreshment area, hoping that his little brother wouldn't question the previous conversation.

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

_Okay so I don't necessarily like the ending but it was getting long and I wanted to post it now._

_But the next chapter will pick up from where this one left off._


End file.
